Perfect Darkness
by Renji9031
Summary: Summary: Discusses the origins of Tsunami’s ZODIAC and how Akatsuki Ushimitsu and Suna Shukaku of Dark Enigma got their powers. Sequel to Behind Blue Eyes by ArtisticSai and prequel to The Guardians: Beginnings by Guardian’s Light. NaruSaku, ItachiOC
1. Memories and Celestials

**Perfect Darkness**

**Summary: Discusses the origins of Tsunami's ZODIAC and how Akatsuki Ushimitsu and Suna Shukaku of Dark Enigma got their powers. Sequel to Behind Blue Eyes by ArtisticSai and prequel to The Guardians: Beginnings by Guardian's Light. Pairings: NaruSaku, ItachiOC (Flashbacks only)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or W.I.T.C.H. ZODIAC belongs to Guardian's Light, and so does Akatsuki Ushimitsu post-name change. Saito (Akatsuki's original name) belongs to ArtisticSai. Yoshino Ushimitsu is mine though. Bleach ideas belong to Tite Kubo.**

**I don't want to have to go through all this stuff so I am just going to do this on the first chapter**

"Talking"

'Thinking/Inner Sakura'

"Jutsu"

_Flashback_

**Kyuubi/Author**  


* * *

Memories and Celestials

* * *

A young girl lay dead on the ground. The cause was the extraction of her bijuu, the Eight Tailed Yamata no Orochi. Surrounding her inert body were the remaining members of Akatsuki, Pain, Konan, Hoshigaki Kisame, Zetsu, Tobi, and Uchiha Itachi. 

"Nice work everybody. That's the eighth bijuu. Only one more remains. Kyuubi," Pain said with a hint of arrogance in his eyes.

The Akatsuki currently had eight bijuu in their possession. Itachi was remembering the hardest one that they had.

The One-tailed Shukaku. What a case that was to try and capture. Not only had Suna no Sasori and Deidara alerted everyone in Sunagakure, but they had also been attacked by Teams Kakashi and Gai, the finest two teams in Konohagakure. In the end, they managed to capture the Shukaku, but at the cost of Sasori.

The rest of the jinchuuriki were pretty straight forward, as they were either exiled or not important enough to try and get back. And by important, they were not Kage like Shukaku's host. Gaara, was it?

Now they had the One-tailed Shukaku, the Two-tailed Nekomata, the Three-tailed Isonade, the Four-tailed Sokou, the Five-tailed Houkou, the Six-tailed Raijuu, the Seven-tailed Kaku, and the Eight-tailed Yamata no Orochi.

The only bijuu remaining was the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

'_Great,'_ thought Itachi. '_Another Kage. Why do the toughest ones always have to be carried by Kage?'_

"Itachi-san. You seem preoccupied," said Pain.

"Oh? I guess I am a little bit hesitant about going up against the Hokage. He's gotten a lot stronger since we first met him. If I had used my own body instead of Yuura's to fight during the Shukaku incident, I would have been dead."

The truth was that Itachi was thinking about the wife and newborn son he had lost fifteen years ago. What was her name? Ushimitsu Yoshino? Yes. And their son, Saito, was it?

* * *

_I__tachi had just gotten back from fighting Team Kakashi + Chiyo. He was exhausted. He was just barely in to Amegakure when he passed out._

_When He had come to, he noticed… well, absolutely nothing. He cursed himself for using his Mangekyou Sharingan too much. He activated his Sharingan and took in his surroundings._

_The house was a small, one room dwelling with just enough luxuries to live a nice, quiet life._

_'__No surprises there,'thought Itachi.__'Ever since Pain took command of Amega for Akatsuki, this is what every house is… except the hideout of course.'_

_Then he saw the woman. She was the most beautiful woman Itachi had ever seen. She had long yellow hair and a nice figure, but her defining element was that she had more in the upper regions than Tsunade._

* * *

_Itachi had finally married the woman of his dreams, Ushimitsu Yoshino, and they had a son, Saito. Desperate to keep the child out of the clutches of Akatsuki, Itachi had sent the two to Konoha to start a new life. It had been difficult at first, from what he had heard._

_Finally he received a letter from Konoha stating that Yoshino had died fighting Hidan and Kakuzu. Too bad he couldn't kill them. Nara Shikamaru and his team had already done that with the help of Kakashi Hatake._

_He did not know whether or not his son survived, but he was determined to find out._

_He did not remember all the details of this expedition. What he did remember was encountering both the Kyuubi brat and his foolish little brother, Sasuke. He never found his son because of the fight he had at the Uchiha Compound. The one where he almost killed Sasuke._

* * *

Itachi left the whole of Akatsuki in awe as he left the room without even taking care of the body. 

-

The Celestial chamber had been empty for seven years. That's how long it had been since Akatsuki had captured a bijuu. Now it was filled by the top eight Celestial Beings.

"You're late!" a voice boomed in the darkness. "The bijuu was captured twelve hours ago and you just now show up? You should be glad that this was the last meeting in seven years or else you would have missed it."

"My apologies, Sentaro-sama. I was delayed," said the second ranked Celestial Being in existence, Konan of the Akatsuki.

"Doing what?" asked Sentaro, the leader of the Celestials.

"I was getting rid of someone else's proverbial luggage, as it were."

"The Uchiha kid is still trying to find his son?" Sentaro was less annoyed than Konan had expected him to be. He was wise, and she knew it. He had lived for almost ten thousand of her years.

"Well, do you have anything to report?" asked Sentaro.

"My Lord, the Akatsuki have begun the operation to capture the final piece. Itachi and Tobi are leading the assault," Konan said with a smile.

"Be wary of that Tobi. He was our adversary for a while. He stopped the takeover of the world," said Sentaro. "See Cibuwi over there? He is the third strongest Celestial in existence. He fell in love with a Hyuga over two centuries ago. They had a child together. Cibuwi named the kid Uchiha Madara. This spirit is what possesses Tobi. He summoned the Kyuubi to Konoha in order to put it out of our reach."

"You mean Tobi is… Madara? How is that possible?" asked Konan.

"Remember how Orochimaru was able to obtain near immortality through body switching? Well Madara had a different approach. When a person dies, their soul chain is cut, separating the soul from the body. Madara found a way to reconnect the soul chain before he turned into a creature known as a Hollow. This body is perhaps Madara's sixth? The body itself is of a boy who died 37 years ago. Uchiha Obito. Madara connected his soul chain to Obito's body, thereby allowing him to live inside the body of a true Uchiha. About 23 years ago, he killed his best friend, Warunago, thus obtaining the Mangekyou Sharingan… in BOTH of his eyes."

"Thanks. I will take my leave," said Konan.

"Then this meeting is OVER!!!" said Sentaro.

* * *

**So, that's it. The first chapter is complete. So how did I do? R&R please.**

**Also, please read Behind Blue Eyes by ArtisticSai and read Guardian's Light's The Guardians: Beginnings, Tsunami, and Tectonic.**

**Abarai Renji**


	2. True Past Revealed

**OK, so here is Chapter 2 of Perfect Darkness**

**Again, if anyone wants to know, I do not own Naruto, W.I.T.C.H, Bleach, or any other anime or television show referenced in this story.**

* * *

Chapter 2: True Past Revealed

* * *

'So the time has come. Has it?' thought Itachi as he was getting ready for what looked to be his last mission for Akatsuki. 'This is too easy. Get the Kyuubi brat. The odds are really stacked against him. All of us are going and that white-haired idiot can't protect him if he's dead." **(A.N. The manga itself is what makes the Akatsuki believe Jiraiya is dead when clearly, as seen in the first chapter of this story's prequel, he's very much alive.)**

HE got to thinking about the story of his son. For some reason, something didn't add up. How could he have been saved? He wasn't about to die. But for some reason, he remembered being on the verge of death. This was all wrong. Then more memories began to flood his brain.

* * *

_20 years ago_

_Kisame wasn't with him on this one… He had been summoned by Pain for Hokage knows what… there was a woman… perhaps the one who saved his life… where was he?... Village Hidden in Trees… Hayaku and Tanjun… revealing himself… Tanjun was so scared… Tanjun found him… A hand seal… "MEMORY MODIFICATION JUTSU!!!"… black flames…_

* * *

"DAMN THAT TANJUN!!!" Itachi screamed as he punched the ground. "Memory Modification Jutsu my ass."

* * *

_What really happened 20 years ago…_

_**(A.N. for the first part of the Itachi flashback, read chapter 12 of **_**Behind Blue Eyes **_**by ArtisticSai.)**_

_'What have I done?' thought Itachi. 'How could I have done that? All they wanted to know is what happened to Konoha. I didn't realize that she would… well you know __**(A.N. gotta keep this rated T, right?)**__ Why did I have to reveal myself? And then knocking me out. Oh, Kami. Now they will send Ninjas after me. What have I done…?'_

_Itachi continued thinking these thoughts as if they were a mantra as he headed back to the Akatsuki base. He had completed his last mission a few days ago when he had heard about her son being born…_

_Doing the math, he asked himself, 'Is that my kid?'_

_As he was jumping from tree to tree back to Amegakure, he saw something in the distance…_

_"Tanjun..?" he muttered before going down. It very well could have been Tanjun, but then again it might have been the Kyuubi brat, in which case Itachi would have one more prize to bring back to Pain._

_A second later, he was proved wrong about this person being Naruto. It was, in fact, Tanjun. 'Maybe now I'll get some answers.'_

_She seemed so distraught at the sight of him… "Hayaku!!! How could you? You lied to me!!! All this time you were Uchiha Itachi and you didn't say anything!!!_

_All Itachi could do is stand there and listen to this woman go on and on about how she was being used. If anything, using Tsukiyomi to shut her up would only torture HIM!_

_Finally, the tirade came to a close when she said, "And if that wasn't enough, I just delivered YOUR child!"_

_"I know," said Itachi._

_"You do?!?! You idiot!!! How could you know but not come to his side? Have you no sense at all!?!?!?" She made a hand seal. "You never met me!! DO YOU HEAR ME!?!?! YOU NEVER MET ME!!! MEMORY MODIFICATION JUTSU!!!"_

_'Shit,' thought Itachi. 'I have got to get out of this. What if I cut off her chakra supply?"_

_Using the quickest means to destroy her chakra supply, Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and cast the most powerful jutsu in his arsenal: Amaterasu._

_As he saw the Amaterasu engulf her, he knew he was too late._

* * *

"Itachi, it's time." Kisame said, apparently unaware of the reverie that he had just interrupted. 

Itachi quickly jolted toward the source of the disturbance, Mangekyou activated, but when he realized it was Kisame, he quickly put them away.

"Very well, Kisame." Itachi picked up his hat and left with Kisame. All he could think about was how crappy the memory modification was. 'Saved by a woman? Yeah right. And what the heck was that name? Yoshino? That Tanjun probably watched too much Bleach. It's obvious that name comes from the filler arc.'

Itachi was jolted from his reverie yet again by the intense amount of chakra coming from the Sealing Statue. Eight of its eyes were open, and one remained closed.

The last thought on his mind as he exited Amegakure was, 'Eight down, one to go. Prepare to die, o Great Sixth Hokage.'

* * *

Paperwork. There was nothing worse than paperwork. And unfortunately for Naruto, he was doing just that. 

'Damn it, Tsunade, why didn't you tell me that all this was part of being Hokage?' thought Naruto for the 500th time this week.

He was looking for an excuse to get out of this paperwork job when Saito Ushimitsu, Jonin, Naruto's son Yoshi's best friend, and also one of the last Uchihas walked in.

"Hokage-sama, the mission was a success. We have discovered that the Akatsuki have eight of the nine bijuu," said the young Uchiha.

"Very good," said Naruto, trying to keep his composure. If he was the last Jinchūriki, then Akatsuki would come after him. "Call a Council Meeting. This village is in grave danger."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Saito turned to leave the room.

'Damn the Akatsuki,' thought Naruto. 'Now they are coming after me.'

He knew of only three ninja that could be any match for the Akatsuki.

"Saito, one more thing."

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" asked Saito.

"Assemble the other two Sannin."

* * *

**A.N. time:**

**The title of Legendary Sannin has been passed down to the pupils of the original Legendary Three Ninja. They are now Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.**

**Around this time, Sasuke has returned to Konoha and had been taking care of Saito before he became a Jonin.**

**Next chapter will include some Sasuke.**

**Thanks to all that reviewed. I greatly appreciate it.**

**Abarai Renji**


	3. Sannin The Next Generation

**Perfect Darkness**

**OK, so it's been a long time since I last updated, but I didn't want to throw ArtisticSai off course with her story, but after bouncing ideas back and forth, I believe it is time for an update.**

**I promised some Sasuke in this chapter, and I never fail to deliver, so here it is.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Bleach, W.I.T.C.H, or any other show referenced in this story. OK, never mind. I do have some bleach, just not the manga/anime kind.**

**-**

**Chapter 3: Sannin - The Next Generation**

-

Naruto had just finished his meeting with the Konoha Village Council. Now he was waiting for the other two Sannin to arrive.

He knew it was only a matter of time before Akatsuki would be banging down the village gates demanding the Kyuubi. At least Itachi was no longer a threat.

Sasuke had told Naruto about how he had killed Itachi 15 years ago. The village knew Itachi was dead, but not the exact details. Apparently Itachi had run into Sasuke 15 years ago, but this time, Sasuke was fast enough to defeat Itachi before he could cast genjutsu.

This was not entirely true. Itachi had cast a genjutsu on Sasuke, but what he didn't know was that Sasuke had killed all the members of Snake, his group, and thereby obtained the Mangekyō Sharingan. Using his own Mangekyō to counteract Itachi's was gave Sasuke just the edge he needed to pierce Itachi three times. Sasuke then left him for dead.

That was 15 years ago, and the situation with Akatsuki had not improved. Now that they had eight of the nine bijuu, they were coming to Konoha, and even without Itachi, there was still Madara.

Naruto knew who this Madara was. Uchiha Madara was responsible for Naruto's predicament. He had lured the Kyuubi here all those years ago when his father sacrificed his life to seal the fox inside him. Not only that, but Madara was also an accomplice to the Uchiha genocide.

Somehow, Naruto knew that this rogue Uchiha was part of the group sent to capture him.

Finally, the other two Sannin, Sasuke and Sakura, made it to the Hokage tower. They were not alone, however. Sakura brought their son Yoshi, heir to the position of Hokage with her.

"Sakura-chan, why did you bring our son?" asked Naruto incredulously. This was supposed to be a secret meeting.

"Naruto-kun, please. If Yoshi is to be Hokage someday, he needs to know how you operate under this kind of pressure, in case he is ever faced with similar problems," said Sakura.

"Fine. Okay. Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme. You both know why you are here, right?"

Sasuke said, "How could we not. I was the one that gathered information about the sealing process. It was very hard not to be spotted. Two Uchiha and the son of the Hokage are not what I would call a stealth force."

"OK, whatever," Naruto said. "The point is it's going to take everything we have to beat these guys. I don't know how many there are at this point, but if they are all as strong as Itachi, we're screwed."

"Not necessarily," said Sakura. "All we'd need is for an army to be placed at Konoha's gates. The Akatsuki will spot them, go around, and then we trip them up with exploding tags."

"That would work on almost everyone, but not on Pain," said Naruto. "Remember what the frog said before Jiraiya washed up on the shore half dead? Pain has at least six bodies. If that is true, then we can't just take one out. We have to wait until all six bodies are in one spot."

"But didn't attacking all six Pains at once almost cost Jiraiya his life?" asked Sakura.

"Exactly my point. That's why I have brought us together. Three is better than one," said Naruto. "With only one body, there are going to be some openings that the Pains will be sure to exploit, but with three people standing back to back to back, there are no openings. Not only that, but with our unique abilities, we can defeat them. Perhaps even by combining our abilities, we may prevail."

"What do you mean, Naruto-sama?" asked Sasuke.

"Remember when we were fighting at the Valley of the End?" asked Naruto. "When you used your Chidori in Level 2 and I used my Rasengan at level 1? Remember the resulting shockwave? Though it happened purely by accident, I think we may be able to use that shockwave as a jutsu in and of itself."

"Father, you cannot be serious. Do you realize the danger that would put you in?" asked Yoshi. "According to you, you barely came out alive after that."

"And that's why we have a medical ninja with us," said Naruto, indicating Sakura.

"But Naruto, I might not be able to help you both," said Sakura. "If both of you are critical, who do I treat first?"

"Sasuke," said Naruto matter-of-factly. After receiving looks from the party, he added, "Sasuke would be in the direst need of help since the Kyuubi would start my healing process."

After letting the group think on this, Naruto said simply, "This is the plan. We follow Sakura's idea and then go looking for Pain on our own. Take it or leave it."

"I'd be a fool to go against you, Naruto-sama," said Sasuke. "You were the one that accepted me back when nobody else would. You were the one that made attacking me punishable by death."

"Very well," said Naruto. "And Yoshi, I'd like you to lead the army that will be mobilized against Akatsuki. You are the most experienced fighter in this village besides myself, Sasuke, Sakura, and perhaps Kakashi. Will you do this?"

"Yes, father. I will," Yoshi said simply.

"Good. Dismissed," Naruto commanded.

Putting on his Hokage armor, he waited.

-

The Akatsuki members walked down the path to Konoha. So far, they had not encountered any resistance. This was odd, according to Itachi. He had always encountered at least a band of pirates.

The mission was led by Pain, or rather, all six Pains. It was surprising that Pain would use all six bodies instead of just his Yahiko, but then again, this was all part of his plan.

Every village they came to, they would impress soldiers into their service to combat the Konoha ninja they were sure to meet.

After their latest incursion, Itachi went to Kisame and Tobi.

"Kisame, Tobi, can I have a word with you?" asked Itachi.

"Whatever," said Kisame.

"Tobi would be honored to talk to Itachi-san," said Tobi.

After leaving the main group, Itachi finally said, "I do not think I should have come. The village thinks that I am dead."

"Who cares what that ridiculous excuse for a Hidden Village thinks," said Madara, dropping his Tobi disguise once they were out of earshot from Pain. "It's more important that we are here to stop the loyalists when the time comes."

"Hmmph," said Kisame. "If you were so desperate to stop pain, Madara-sama, why did you not just use your Mangekyō on him?"

"I cannot risk damaging my only eye," said Madara. "And unless you have a way to extract my other eye from that bastard, Kakashi, you'd better shut up before I decide to feed you to the Hollows."

"Errrr, there's no need for that, Madara-san, I was only asking why we had to put Itachi in such a vulnerable position," said Kisame.

"Kisame, I am not the one who will be most affected by this. If Naruto sees me, the shock will be enough to force him into his four-tailed state, making the process of killing the fox that much harder."

"Fine. If you think it is that important to our mission, you can use this," said Madara, giving Itachi a necklace that immediately transformed him into a random Amegakure ninja.

"Arrrrgh. Why couldn't you have made me a Konoha ninja?" asked Itachi. "That would make it far easier for me to sneak in.

"The necklace takes on the form of its last kill. Pain made it. That's how I knew Jiraiya was alive," said Madara.

"Jiraiya is alive?" asked both Itachi and Kisame.

"Well not anymore," said Madara. "Last I heard, he died of a heart attack not too long ago. What can you do? I mean, the guy was fucking OLD!!! Nobody that old is expected to live after a heart attack."

"So how do I use this thing?" asked Itachi, having taken it off and resumed his original form not too long ago.

"Just kill somebody. Their body will disappear and the necklace will transform you into that person. Then you should be able to walk around Konoha freely."

"HEY SLOWPOKES!!!! GET UP HERE!!!! IT'S TIME!!!!" yelled Pain. And indeed it was time. The Akatsuki army had reached the Land of Fire.

-

**And so concludes chapter 3. The Akatsuki have finally reached the Land of Fire, giving Konoha about a day to work battle plans.**

**The next chapter will be about battle plan finalizing and will finish the Calm Before the Storm arc.**

**Guardian's Light: Don't worry, your character will come into play soon enough. Just give me some time to give Kakuzu a passing worthy of his character.**

**Read and review people.**

**Abarai Renji.**


	4. The Secrets of the Xel'Naga

**Finally, ArtisticSai has finished BBE, and so I think it's time to dredge up it's sequel once more.**

**For those of you having questions about the way she ended it in parallel to Tsunami, Let me just say that I had prepared for her to give Saito Chidori, and am coming up with a way to make it so that he does not use it by the time Tsunami rolls around. As such, I am going to create a forum or a story that describes Saito/Akatsuki in greater detail than what Guardian's Light originally described him as, functioning kind of like a Wikipedia article.**

**Also, this chapter will introduce another concept from a fairly notable video game into the mix.**

**Note: I own nothing except the computer used to write this story.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Secrets of the Xel'Naga**

* * *

Naruto looked at the message in disgust. The Akatsuki were in the Land of Fire headed directly for Konoha. He shrugged. At least the message came on one of the fastest birds in the country, giving him just over a day to finalize battle plans, but still, this was going to be a scramble.

Much like when his father battled the Kyūbi thirty-two years ago, Naruto had no idea how this was going to turn out. For all he knew, he would end up dead, just like Minato.

As was customary of the leader of a village right before a battle he knew was coming, Naruto was touring Konoha's streets, deep in thought.

'All this because Senju Hashirama and the Uchiha betrayed Madara all those years ago?' That was what Sasuke had said during one of his many rants in the Konoha prison eight years ago.

"Hey, dobe!" a shout was heard around the next corner.

'Speak of the devil," thought the Hokage as he passed into the alley where Sasuke's shout had come from. Sure enough, there was Sasuke, his Kusanagi hanging on his left in its brand new sheath.

Ever since being freed from prison eight years ago, Sasuke had made a number of modifications to his Kusanagi, in order to make it his own instead of the blade that Orochimaru had given him. The blade was now curved like a katana instead of a chokutō, it's hilt was now wrapped in purple for an easier grip, and it now sported a grossguard, square in appearance, connected to the hilt by four metal beams.\

"Hey teme, what are you doing out here?" asked Naruto.

"I thought I heard something," was Sasuke's reply. After listening for several minutes, Naruto had to conclude that Sasuke was right. Not only that, but there were two distinct sounds. One was the swoosh sound of incoming ninja jumping through the trees, and the other was the distinct sound of armor moving in perfect rhythm.

The armor was clearly the Land of Fire's Royal Guard, an elite group of samurai trained by the Land of Fire's Feudal Lord himself. Though not nearly as good as ninja, these samurai had no problems holding their own against even the worst of enemies. They had held off Hidan and Kakuzu while Naruto and the rest of Team Kakashi investigated the grave robbings of the Fire Temple.

It was the other sound, the one of the ninjas that bothered Naruto greatly. Surely Akatsuki was not here yet. The crow had only delivered the message 3 hours ago, and he took three hours to get there which gave Naruto eighteen hours. He thought.

"Well, Naruto?" asked Sasuke, his Sharingan activating at the chance to fight Madara again.

"Let's go. These ninja have me worried and we also need to station the samurai."

* * *

At the Gate of Konoha, Naruto was met by the biggest surprise of his life. Not only were these ninja not of Akatsuki, but they were dressed in the fashion of the Land of Snow. He was sure that he never beseeched anyone from the Land of Snow for help, but here they were. 20 ninja, all with Snow headbands, most of them Chunin rank or higher, stood in front of the gate.

Naruto beckoned them inside, but was still a little cautious. After all, it was the Snow Shinobi under Kazahana Dotō that proved to be Team 7's greatest challenge as a team.

Instantly, bitter memories came back to Naruto. It was shortly after the Kazahana Koyuki mission that Sasuke had left to find Orochimaru.

Speaking of Koyuki, Naruto noticed that she was leading the group. He was curious as to why a princess and a famed actress would be here leading a group of ninja.

If Naruto had one weakness, it was his curiosity. He could not hope to control his urge to satisfy it. Often times before becoming Hokage, this impulsiveness would get him into trouble, either with Orochimaru or Akatsuki. Now that he was Hokage, his impulsiveness to jump into battle had saved his ninja and the Leaf Village a dozen times over.

"Yukie-chan!!" Naruto called out, still using Koyuki's stage name. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I heard Akatsuki was in the neighborhood, and I thought I'd offer a hand. Unfortunately we are low on shinobi," she said. "I am sorry, but these twenty were all I could spare."

"But why would you go so far for me?" asked Naruto.

"Because you gave me hope when I had none," Koyuki said.

Instantly having a flashback to the Land of Waves mission where Tazuna had said the same thing about the villagers, Naruto again thought of Sasuke and Orochimaru.

'Dammit, Naruto, why do I keep thinking of this?' Naruto thought to himself. 'Sasuke came back eight years ago. Kami. I hope Sakura and Yoshi don't see me like this… Damn. Too late.'

There they were. Yoshi, Sakura, and Saito were standing at the gate, greeting the samurai who had just shown up. Naruto inwardly cursed himself for showing them his moment of weakness.

Sasuke saw this and said, "Don't sweat it, Dobe. Everyone has bad memories of that time. Even me."

"Thanks, Teme," Naruto said, before going back to the task at hand.

* * *

Twelve hours remained before the attack on the leaf, and Naruto had gotten everything prepared in just that short time. He had surprised a lot of people doing so, but then again, he was the number one ninja at surprising people.

At the front gate were the bulk of the Ninja army and the Royal Guard, led by Yoshi and Saito. At the head of the line were most the samurai, their katanas drawn and ready to engage. Bringing up the rear were most of Konoha's Ninja corps, Genin in front, Chunin in middle, and Jonin bringing up the rear. At the two guard towers closest to the gate was a select group of Jonin, as well as 12 samurai archers each. These Jonin would alert the crowd down below as to when the army would break through. Among these were Saito at one guard tower, and Yoshi at another.

Knowing that the bulk of Akatsuki would probably try to go around the walls to avoid direct confrontation, Naruto had set up a virtually impregnable jutsu on the walls of Konoha, stopping at a point where the village defenses were weakest. On the village interior, just in front of the gap in the jutsu, the original rookie teams, along with their original Jonin senseis stood waiting. These forces were originally supposed to engage the Akatsuki alone, but Koyuki, knowing that not even an elite group of 16 Jonin could take on Akatsuki alone, so she decided to bolster there troops with her own. There 36 shinobi were sure to be able to tackle Akatsuki, and in the case that they were able to penetrate someplace else, an elaborate summoning system set up by Naruto would ensure that they would get there instantly.

Standing next to Naruto, Sasuke was bouncing around like he needed to pee, but Naruto knew what was going on. "Relax," he said. "You will get to fight Madara again soon. He will pay for taking your clan from you."

Beside Naruto, Sasuke's tension had decreased substantially.

* * *

Meanwhile, Akatsuki's army had stopped off in Otafuku Town because apparently Konan had eaten a bad whelk and was sick. Inside the bathroom of the cave hotel where Konan was staying, a recording device set to play a woman puking every ten minutes was conveniently placed.

Konan, however, was in a different place entirely. She was in the Celestial Meeting Grounds.

"Ahhh, Konan," a voice next to Sentaro said. "I trust you were able to get away from Akatsuki?"

"I told them I ate a bad whelk and didn't feel so good, and then put them under a genjutsu that made them think I was puking when I was completely fine," was her reply.

"One thousand people under a genjutsu?" asked the voice, coming from a bearded man with dark skin. "Only an Uchiha or Yakushi Kabuto could perform genjutsu on that level."

'I'm just that good," said Konan, before turning to the dark-skinned man. "Now what did you want, Samir?"

"I just wanted to know how the capture of the last bijū was coming," said the man. "I need him for my project."

"Oh, well, if Pain doesn't fuck things up like he usually does, you'll get your ZODIAC Project finished by the end of the week," she retorted.

"And if he does?"

"About 50 years," said Konan. "Either way, you win."

Samir was furious. "I CANNOT WAIT 50 YEARS!! WAITING COST ME MY SPECIES!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOOK AS THOUSANDS OF CREATURES YOU CREATED SWARM YOUR SHIPS LIKE THAT!? DO YOU!?"

"ENOUGH, DURAN!!" Yelled the booming voice of Sentaro. "You will get your revenge on the Overmind Whether it takes a week, 50 years, or 5,000 is not relevant. You will see it pay for its crimes against the Xel'Naga."

"Of course," said Duran. "I overreacted, and I am sorry. My personal feelings toward the Zerg will not get in the way again."

Konan had been taken aback by Samir Duran's sudden outburst. She was only five years old when he lost everything. His mother, his father, his friends, all brutally killed by the Zerg, a set of creatures they had created.

There were three tribes among the celestial beings. The first were the Kiman, of which Konan and Sentaro were members of. They were responsible for creating the layout of the universe. Then there was the Shinam, a group that were responsible fro bringing it to order. Then, finally, were the most powerful in numbers, the Xel'Naga, which were charged with giving sentience to a select group of lifeforms.

The Xel'Naga started with a group of apes on a planet called Earth, turning them in to humans through two gifts, sentience and bipedalism. After it was determined that humans could naot evolve any more, the Xel'Naga took a select group to a remote planet, Yashir, where they could be studied and experimented on. The Yashir humans became unstable, and after developing many techniques that could overthrow the Xel'Naga and calling them "jutsu," humanity was deemed a failure.

The Xel'Naga, not willing to give up, decided that there were two essential qualities that humans lacked in order to make them perfect. They were purity of form and purity of essence. Refusing to give up in creating perfect sentient being, they traveled to a planet not unlike Earth, called Aiur. There, they found a group of beings that they had determined to have purity of form, due to the fact that they could survive in the harsh conditions of that world. Calling these new creatures the Protoss, or first-born, the Xel'Naga began to give them the gift of sentience. But alas, it was too good to be true, for the Xel'Naga directly interfered in the Protoss' development after that, and caused them to split into two factions, the main Protoss body, and the Dark Templar, a group of nomads that were exiled from Aiur. The protoss, like Humanity, were deemed a failure.

Still not willing to accept no for an answer, the Xel'Naga traveled to Xerus, a volcanic planet, in hopes of finding a creature with the purity of essence. Their efforts were not in vain, as they had discovered a small larva-like creature called a Zerg. Having gifted it with sentience, they started to watch as the larval Zerg began to adapt to its new environment. Having remembered the failure with the humans and the Protoss, they took a larva that was larger than most, and made it the commander of all 10 of the sentient Zerg. Calling this larva the Overmind, they allowed it to hear all the thoughts of the other nine, effectively giving the Zerg a collective consciousness.

Though the Overmind Larva was reduced to being semi-sentient through this process, it eventually became sentient again. Making the other nine Zerg into giants of themselves called Cerebrates, the Overmind gave them the gift he had received. Control over nine other Zerg Larva. The Cerebrates then gave orders to the lara to assimilate other beings into the new society. Soon the mere fact that they could do this allowed for the creation of more and more Zerg strains as well as structures.

Finally, after assimilating several space-faring organisms into the fold, not only were the Zerg capable of space travel, but of perceiving the Xel'Naga in space. The Overmind, now a giant brain-like entity, had severed its connection with the Xel'Naga and launched a massive attack. Within seconds, the ships were decimated, with only one able to escape. This man, assuming the identity of Samir Duran, had come to the Council of Celestials just after that event, and begged them to help create a creature that could withstand the Zerg Swarm.

Konan knew all this, and was tasked with finding nine creatures that when merged, could form that which Duran asked for, but she still had her doubts as to whether this would work. The last of these creatures was held by the Hokage, the strongest ninja in Konohagakure. The last time Akatsuki was tasked with finding a Kage, they had their hands full with getting him, getting the bijū out, AND contending with a Jonin that could use eye techniques on Uchiha Itachi's level.

"Don't worry," she told Duran. "Pain can't die, and neither can I. I can also use my power to bring people back. I did it to Itachi, I can do it again."

"Yeah, yeah, you and your power," Duran retorted. "Just don't fuck it up."

"OK. I will try…" she started but a sudden sound from her portal attracted her attention.

"Hey Konan, are you alright in there?" said a voice that sounded too much like Pain. "You've been puking for three hours."

"Oh shit. I gotta go. I'll contact you when the Kyūbi is in our possession," she said on her way out.

Back in the bathroom, she exited as weakly as she possibly could, having turned the recorder off and flushed.

"I think I'm OK now," she said acting as if she really HAD been puking for three hours.

"Are you sure?" asked Pain. "I haven't seen anyone this sick since Itachi went to fight Sasuke 20 years ago.

"I'm fine now," sKonan said as if she had just started to get her strength back. "Let's go."

Putting away the cave hotel in its Scroll of Sealing, the group continued on until dawn, where finally, after much planning by Pain, much counter-planning by Naruto, and much plotting by Madara, they had finally reached the Leaf Village.

* * *

**Alright, so if you guys didn't get the StarCraft reference, let me just say this, first, it belongs to Blizzard, incase my I OWN NOTHING speech didn't have an impact, and I intend to introduce the actual story later.**

**Also, sorry for not updating in a while, I had to wait until Sai was done her story and even after that I had hit a bonk. As for the opening arc, it's finished now and the next chapter, which I will write after I post this one (today's update is a twofer! YEAH!!) will get the actual action going. Wish me luck as I tackle my first fight scene EVER!**

**Oh, and read and review.**


	5. The Storm Breaks

**I said this would be a twofer and I didn't lie.**

**I don't own Naruto, Bleach, StarCraft, or any other thing referenced here.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Storm Breaks**

* * *

Dawn. The one thing that all the Konoha Ninja, Fire Samurai, and Spring Ninja had feared. It was time for Akatsuki to strike. Yoshi and Saito kept silent vigil on the path leading to Konoha, as it was the only way in according to Naruto. Finally, after 5 minutes, Saito spotted movement out of the corner of his Sharingan eye.

Looking at the offending movement, he paled. At least a thousand men were running headlong toward the gate. Sending a Kage Bunshin to warn the others, Saito began to radio to Yoshi to make sure he was ready. Of course, knowing the Namikaze Clan, that was hardly necessary, but all the same, Saito liked to be careful.

"Yoshi, prepare the archers to unleash a volley. I want to buy our ground troops some time to get ready."

"Copy that Saito. Will do," was Yoshi's response.

He saw Yoshi rallying his archers to fight and started doing the same thing with his own. Soon, all the archers were ready to fire.

As soon as the army came into view, the archers unleashed. Razing a line of civilians-turned-militia intent on destroying Konoha, the archers nocked another volley of arrows and fired.

Soon, however, this was not enough to keep Akatsuki's makeshift army at bay, and it was time for the ground forces to take over. The first ground attack came when the ninja corps used chakra-enhanced jumps to leap above the samurai and fling their projectiles at the oncoming enemy. Dozens of men and women were razed by kunai after kunai after shuriken.

After all that, the full force of the makeshift army plowed into the Konoha ground force. The samurai at the front used a method of drawing their weapons that was able to bring down two lines at once. After that, the true battle began.

Saito noticed it first. The other samurai and ninja were quick to catch on. Several figures had broken off from the main army. They all were wearing cloaks with red clouds.

"That must be Akatsuki," said Saito into his radio. "Radio your father and have him prepare for a surprise attack."

"There's no need," came Naruto's voice through the radio. "I've already prepared for this. Just make sure that the army doesn't get inside the village."

"Will do, Hokage-sama," said Saito.

Going back to flinging kunai, he scored a direct hit on a man who looked like he was going to kill one of the genin on his squad. He then grabbed that genin with a Kage Bunshin and after admonishing him for being out of formation, dispelled the clone and got back to it.

The plan for the samurai was relatively simple. After a small battle, the sword wielders would retreat, and the axe wielders would jump over them and enter the fray, giving the swords a reprieve. After a couple of minutes, the process began anew, with the swords taking over for the axes. Using this method of fighting, the samurai had no casualties whatsoever, the only near casualty being the out-of-formation genin.

All that changed, however, when one of the samurai burst into black flames out of nowhere. None of the other samurai or ninja knew what was going on except for Saito, and only because he was an Uchiha.

Another samurai was incinerated. Saito radioed all the ground troops. "Be careful. Uchiha Madara is systematically using Amaterasu on our troops," he said. "Act accordingly, and if someone catches fire, move."

* * *

Over in the trees, Madara and Itachi were standing, looking exactly like the samurai that had just fallen under the Amaterasu. Not that anyone was likely to know what had happened to the fallen samurai.

"Hey, Kisame," said Itachi. "You better lob a kunai and get someone before the operation starts."

"I know, I know," said a voice behind the trees. A second later, a kunai went flying and hit a samurai square in the eyes. As the samurai fell, Kisame's image shimmered and the shark was replaced with the same samurai.

"I told you this would work," said Madara. "Itachi. Go kill the leader. He's that guy using the twin blade."

"On my way," huffed Itachi, and his samurai form jumped into the fray.

* * *

Hachigawa Kenryū had seen better days. He wasn't exactly sure what would make him puke first, the blood or the smell. Still, he fought on, hacking the enemy time after time. Not wanting to waste any cuts, he had stayed at the front even when the axes took over. Still, he was tiring out.

Wielding a double-bladed sword was not the easiest thing in the world. For starters, certain kinds of attacks would be guaranteed to harm the user as well as the opponent. Second, because of that, the user tended to be left open. Kenryū was the leader of the Royal Guard because he was able to master this dangerous art.

Having just finished off three men, he was surprised when another three came through. He was able to take the down no problem. After doing that, he made a victory stab and impaled an innocent Konoha village woman in the chest.

As she stood there dying, Kenryū looked at her and said, "Sorry for killing you."

She then turned and said, "No big deal, she was already dead," and drove the other end of Ken's blade into his own heart. The last thing he saw as he died was the woman transforming into someone who looked vaguely like Uchiha Itachi. The last thing he thought was, 'I thought Sasuke said he was dead.'

As he collapsed, the woman transformed, at first into Itachi's original body, and before anyone could see anything, into the samurai leader that had just been killed.

"Good work, Hachigawa-sama," said a samurai that had just come running from the trees. "Now get inside, you need to recuperate. And Amaterasu the remains."

Itachi did just that. After he was satisfied that he was the only Hachigawa Kenryū in sight, he went inside the village with the other two samurai that lent him a hand before releasing his transformation. The others released theirs as well.

"OK, we're inside," said Madara. "Now all we have to do is find the Hokage and kill him before Pain gets inside."

"But how are we going to do that?" asked both Itachi and Kisame at the same time.

"Years ago, when Sasuke formed Team Eagle after your death, Itachi, I placed a tracking device on him. We need only follow it to its source and we will find Naruto. After that, we kill him."

"But how do we make him believe that we are samurai?"

"That will fall upon you, Itachi. You need to say something that convinces Naruto that the battle goes ill," explained Madara. "After that, take that blade, and kill him. Then you assume his identity and go to Pain willingly, and when he tries to extract the fox, he won't be able to, and his plans will be ruined."

Quickly assuming their samurai forms, Itachi, Kisame, and Madara left to track down Sasuke.

* * *

Naruto was listening to the battle for some time. He knew that things could not be going well, since he only had a short time to scrounge up troops. He was hoping that the message he had just sent to Gaara would make it and the Sand Ninja were on their way, because if not, they were doomed.

The only good news was that Akatsuki had not yet broken through the wall. If they had, Naruto would soon be dead, and he knew it.

There was a flicker of motion from the village interior. Sasuke, preparing for the worst, activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and scanned the area, hoping to Tsukiyomi anyone that got in his path.

As it turned out, Sasuke did not have to use his genjutsu, as it was simply Hachigawa Kenryū and two of his men.

"Naruto-sama," said Ken. "The battle goes ill for us. We need some reinforcements from your group."

"Very well," said Naruto. "Gai, Kurenai, Koyuki! Take several ninja and bolster the main force. We can't let Akatsuki get in!!"

"Too late," said Ken, taking his sword and thrusting it toward Naruto. It would have killed Naruto had it not been for a block by Sasuke's Kusanagi.

"Well, well," said Sasuke. "Madara's a filthy liar. Aren't you?"

The samurai on the left immediately released his transformation, having been found out.

"And you, Kisame," he said pointing to the samurai on the left. "Always traveling with this guy aren't you? Though I admit I don't know how you got your sword to transform."

Kisame released as well.

"And as for you," Sasuke said to Hachigawa. "I thought you had died of some disease… Itachi."

* * *

**Itachi has been found out. Now what will Naruto do? Will he attack, or submit to Madara's goal?**

**The truth will be revealed and Itachi's life will be explained.**

**Next time: Itachi vs. Sasuke and Naruto!!**

* * *

**And now for the ANs that I forgot in last chapter. I modified Sasuke's Kusanagi based on Kuchiki Byakuya's Senbonzakura. You will see why if you read my other fics.**

**I originally intended to have the Zodiac created to fight the Zerg, but there's going to be something that changes that. I don't want to spoil it so when the time comes to reveal it, we will. Don't worry, you'll still get to see some Zerg Rushes. I mean come on. That's the only thing the Zerg are good for.**

**R&R please.**


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